Startup Celebrity Marketing: The Hidden Reason?

Recently, like the Wrtn AI advertisement featuring G-Dragon, the landscape of the advertising market is changing as startups increasingly employ famous celebrities. Wrtn's campaign, which broke traditional advertising molds, initially drew "What is this?" reactions but then created an addictive quality, capturing public attention. Celebrity advertisements, once considered the exclusive domain of large corporations 6-7 years ago, have now become a success indicator and a natural marketing strategy for startups. Behind this change lies an expansion of investment scale and intensifying competition. Startups that have attracted large-scale investments, like Wrtn, secure substantial marketing budgets to aim for brand differentiation and viral effects. In the era of social media, they leverage the explosive increase in recognition that celebrity models bring. Of course, criticisms also exist, such as "focusing on superficiality rather than product development" and "spend money on employee welfare." However, celebrity advertisements leverage the psychology of humans as "social animals." We tend to feel more trust and interest in recommendations from famous people. From a company's perspective, it is an attractive means to shorten the time and effort required to publicize an unknown brand, securing strong recognition in a short period. Various startups utilize celebrity models with their own unique strategies. Wrtn connected G-Dragon's unconventional image with the popularization of AI, attempting comprehensive online and offline exposure. Apart-i targeted all generations of apartment residents through Yoon Soo-il and Song Ha-bin. Carenation achieved strong brand-model identification with Cha Seung-won through a long-term contract, now in its fourth year. The Hyusick targeted the MZ generation's trend of valuing 'experience' through Joo Hyun-young. Nevertheless, the actual return on investment (ROI) of such strategies, long-term customer loyalty, management of celebrity-related risks, and the possibility of consumers remembering only the celebrity and not the brand, all remain unknown. Investors, employees, competitors, and the advertising industry all express both expectations and concerns regarding this change. Ultimately, this era raises fundamental questions about the essential value of startups: what is more sustainable between rapid growth and solid growth, and by what criteria should consumers make their choices? There are no clear answers, and it has become crucial for each company to make wise choices aligned with its capabilities and goals, and for consumers not to be swayed by appearances but to consider actual value. Amidst this wave of change, we are all important arbiters of this new trend.